Cost-of-living crisis

Bolton Octagon has announced that it will offer £4 tickets to local residents on Universal Credit, Pension Credit or living in low-income households who want to attend the theatre.

Launching this month, the scheme will see 1,000 tickets each year made available at £4, in addition to the venue's existing offer of £15 tickets on 10% of seats for Octagon shows.

“Our audiences tell us what fantastic value for money the Octagon is, but we know that for some people, the price can still be a barrier and especially during the cost-of-living crisis,” said Octagon Chief Executive Roddy Gauld.

“With this new scheme, fantastic seats will be available for just £4. We want as many people as possible to enjoy the magic of live theatre, and this is just one of the many ways we’re working to enrich our communities with fun, creativity and excitement.”

Museums across Liverpool are expected to stay closed after the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) rejected a pay offer from National Museums Liverpool (NML).

In a post, Laura Pye, Director of National Museums Liverpool, said that "with a heavy heart", NML's five venues will remain mostly closed until at least 14 April, when the current strike period is due to end.

More than 200 NML staff began a two-month strike on 17 February in a dispute over a cost-of-living payment after 94% of employees balloted by PCS backed a walkout.

The union says NML is the only government employer not to pay its staff an agreed-upon £1,500 cost-of-living payment. The government introduced the retrospective payment for civil servants as part of a pay deal for 2022-2023 following a campaign by PCS to help its members cope with soaring inflation.

However, in her post, Pye said, “NML has never promised this payment. In fact, we were very clear when the government announced that unless an additional grant in aid payment was given to us to cover this, we would be unable to pay it.

“National government has also been very clear that the payment was promised to civil servants, and because NML colleagues are not civil servants, they were not in scope.”

She also claimed that of the 15 National Museums services, NML is one of 10 that has not been able to pay the £1,500 in addition to the additional pay awards agreed upon.

The latest offer made to PCS Union members on 20 March included a £750 one-off non-consolidated payment, an increase in annual leave to 30 days plus Bank Holidays, a commitment to shut down the venues every Christmas Eve, and the provision of complimentary tea, coffee, and milk in staff rooms.

Two climate activists have been arrested following alleged vandalism at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in Glasgow.

Climate activist group This is Rigged said protesters staged a demonstration on 3 March to raise awareness about rising food insecurity in the UK. They are calling on the Scottish Government to implement a community food hub for every 500 households in Scotland.

In footage posted on social media, protesters were seen pouring porridge and jam on a bust of Queen Victoria and graffitiing its plinth.

In a statement, the group said: "We refuse to be dragged back to the Victorian era. Diseases such as rickets, which once haunted Victorian slums, are now on a sharp rise in Scotland, with 356 diagnoses in the Greater Glasgow and Clyde area last year."

Police Scotland said officers were called to the attraction in Glasgow's West End at about 11:55 on Sunday and that two women, aged 23 and 30, were charged following the incident involving a Queen Victoria bust.

They were released to appear at Glasgow Sheriff Court at a later date.

Dorset Museum and Art Gallery needs to triple its current footfall to meet increased running costs following a £16.4m expansion.

Speaking to the BBC, Executive Director Clare Dixon said the organisation was facing a “critical time” as it has struggled to attract enough visitors to meet its costs since it reopened in 2021 after a two-year-long major reconstruction.

Dixon said Covid, the cost-of-living crisis, Brexit and the war in Ukraine had all impacted the museum’s finances.

She added: "The museum reopened in an unpredictable climate, with tourism plummeting and people not going out, so the impact that we hoped the transformation would have had obviously just didn't come to fruition.

"The building is incredible, the displays are beautiful, but the running costs are high.

"When you increase the size of a building, and you increase running costs, you need more people in to make it sustainable. This year is critical."

The museum was recently awarded a grant of £250k from the National Lottery Heritage Fund and a further £150k, spread over three years, from Dorset Council. The money will be used to boost marketing and fund a rebrand, underpinning exhibition costs and supporting learning and events.

A music venue in Bath that has hosted some of the biggest names in UK music has closed with immediate effect.

The Music Venue Trust said that the city's Moles venue has filed for insolvency, stating that the rise in costs and overheads and the impact of the cost-of-living crisis have made it impossible to continue.

Since opening its doors in 1978, the 220-capacity venue has hosted acts including Ed Sheeran, The Killers, Fat Boy Slim, Oasis, Blur, Radiohead, The Smiths and Idles during the early stages of their careers.

Tom Maddicott, co-owner of Moles, said: "Massively increased costs of stock, utilities and rent compounded by our customers also feeling the impact of the crisis has made it impossible to continue. 

"It’s obviously an incredibly difficult decision to have to take, for our team, the staff, the local community, and the artists that over the years have created such an incredible history of music.

"But the reality is that live music at grassroots level is no longer economically viable, and we will not be the only grassroots music venue forced to close. 

"There needs to be a major shake-up of the live industry with the big players supporting the grassroots where it all begins to secure that pipeline of talent."

Artistic Director of Wales Millennium Centre, Graeme Farrow, has warned of a “crisis” in the Welsh cultural sector and urged politicians to consider a 10% boost in arts funding to "steady the ships".

Speaking to BBC's Politics Wales, Farrow said there was "panic" throughout the industry amid cuts to the arts. "We've got Michael Sheen in a big show next May about Nye Bevan, and I'm genuinely thinking 'How are we going to sustain talent like that into the future in Wales?'

"People are going to be making less shows, there's going to be less opportunities for young people to be creative and gain skills, there's going to be less opportunities for people to participate in the arts, and gradually that's going to erode what the culture of the nation is."

In 2023-24, the Welsh government committed £33.3m to Arts Council of Wales, making up 0.2% of the government's total budget.

Farrow said the yearly cost of "just opening the doors and running” Wales Millennium Centre has increased by £1m since 2019.

Welsh Conservative Shadow Minister for Culture, Media and Sport, Tom Giffard, said: "We are known as the land of song, our people go on to be world-famous actors - we should be nurturing and growing this talent, not throwing it away."

The Welsh government said: "We are committed to working with the cultural sector during these challenging times and recognise the valuable contribution culture makes to the economy and wellbeing of people in Wales."
 

Arts charity Artists Studio Company (ASC) has opened a creative venue in London providing affordable workspaces to creatives.

The Handbag Factory in Vauxhall opened in October with an official launch event planned on 23 November.

ASC says it opened the space in response to the cost-of-living crisis and changing creative working practices.

It will welcome creative practitioners working in fields such as the visual arts, fashion, print, design, photography, film, writing and illustration.

The venue features dedicated and coworking desks, meeting rooms and two hire galleries substantially below market rates.

It is also home to the ASC Gallery, a free public art gallery focused on supporting new talented artists and makers.

ASC CEO Peter Flack said the cost of an arts education and the cost of living in London is affecting the capital's global cultural status.

“London is literally being culturally hollowed out. For art and culture to thrive, it has to include people from all walks of life. If art excludes people and becomes the voice of only the privileged few, it will simply be irrelevant,” he added.

“ASC aims to address this problem brick by brick. The Handbag Factory will not solve the problem, but it will help.’’